This invention relates to article carrier systems, and more particularly to a vehicle article carrier adapted specifically for use with a pickup truck and capable of supporting one or more bicycles in an upright orientation within a bed of the pickup truck.
Vehicle article carriers are used on a wide variety of vehicles to support articles thereon above an outer body surface of the vehicle. Most commonly, such vehicle article carriers comprise a pair of elongated rails, sometimes termed xe2x80x9cslatsxe2x80x9d, fixedly mounted on a roof of the vehicle with one or more cross bars being secured to the rails. The cross bars may be fixedly secured to the rails or adjustably secured to allow the user to vary the position of one or both of the cross bars.
With pickup trucks, vehicle article carriers have traditionally not been employed. This is because such vehicles have very short roofs, as compared with most other vehicles such as sport utility vehicles, station wagons and even sedans. However, the large bed of a pickup truck makes the truck ideally suited for carrying bicycles and a variety of other cargo items. Even when carrying bicycles in the bed of a pickup truck, however, the user must still tie or otherwise secure the bicycle with external straps or some other means to hold the bicycle securely within the truck bed. This is because no structure is present in the truck bed which is specifically adapted to support one or more bicycles during transportation thereof. However, it is often inconvenient and/or time consuming to have to use one or more straps to secure the bicycle within the truck bed, and also time consuming to release the bicycle when it is to be removed from the truck bed.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a vehicle article carrier which is specifically adapted for use with a pickup truck to support articles thereon.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a vehicle article carrier which is specifically adapted for use with a pickup truck, and which includes structure for conveniently supporting one or more bicycles in an upright orientation within the truck bed of the pickup truck without the need for external straps and other like components.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle article carrier which is specifically adapted for use with a pickup truck, and which is capable of supporting one or more bicycles within the bed of thereof, in an upright orientation, and which further does not interfere with the use of the bed of the pickup truck or take up valuable space therein when it is not in use.
The above and other objects are provided by a vehicle article carrier in accordance with preferred embodiments of the present invention. The preferred embodiments are specifically adapted for use with a pickup truck and provide a means by which one or more bicycles can be supported in an upright orientation within the bed of the pickup truck without the use of bungee cords or other like securing cords.
In one preferred embodiment the vehicle article carrier comprises a pair of roof rails which have a first portion adapted to extend over the roof of a pickup truck and a second portion adapted to extend down over the back wall of the cab portion of the pickup truck. A lower cross member extends between the second portions of the roof rails adjacent the rear window of the cab of the vehicle. One or more clamping assemblies each adapted to be secured to the cross member are provided which each have fork engaging portions. The fork engaging portions are able to releasably attach to the tines of a fork of a bicycle once the front wheel thereof is removed. The fork engaging portions support the bicycle in a secure, upright position within the bed of the pickup truck and also allow the bicycle to be quickly and easily removed when needed. This is accomplished without the need for any external tools.
In the preferred embodiments the clamping assemblies are capable of being adjustably positioned along the cross member. In this manner, the clamping assemblies can be optimally positioned on the cross member depending upon the number of bicycles that are being transported. Optionally, one or more cross bars could be positioned on the first portions of the roof rails to support articles above the 20 outer body surface of the cab portion of the vehicle. The preferred embodiments of the present invention allow one or more bicycles to be quickly and easily fastened thereto for convenient transport within the bed of a pickup truck. Importantly, the present invention does not take up significant valuable cargo space within the truck bed when it is not in use. It also permits articles to be transported above the cab in the more traditional manner if one or more cross bars are incorporated.